Roadshows

Supposedly, a perk of the marketing job... this week I got to go on a roadshow and tour the midwest. I and a colleague flew to Dallas, did some customer presentations for a new huge hospital that is coming up. While Dallas is beautiful and people are nice, it is somewhat of a concrete jungle. The next day we flew on to Wichita, KS. Wichita is a typical small town, USA and very green. At the Wichita airport, it felt as if we had landed in some 1960s era town. The car rental lot was smaller than a small parking lot and was shared by all of the 5 car rental agencies. Our hotel was a good 1 minute driving distance away. :) Houses don't have fences and land is in abundance. Since this roadshow was meant for SLED customers, the next day we drove to a school and I presented to a bunch of school IT directors. In Wichita, I met the local SE (Kewal). I must say, I am very impressed with the guy. He is such a jovial fellow and it was a pleasure interacting with him... so full of energy and cheerful. In the afternoon, he drove us to our final destination - Kansas City. Now, KC is much bigger than Wichita but it was again a very green city. The city is itself split between Kansas and Missouri states. The next day my colleague presented to about 20 customers. In the evening, it was time to head to the airport and come back home. 4 days on the road went like a breeze. Even though the trip was fine, I didn't enjoy it much. The night before I was to leave, I was tucking my son into bed and he had sadness all over his face at the thought of me going away. He wanted to know why I had to go and then I noticed a tear trickle down from the side of his eye while he lay in bed. He wanted to know if I would still have to go if I called in sick. That visual stayed with me throughout my trip and I just couldn't wait to come back. It was late on Thursday night when I reached home and the kids were already asleep... but sure enough early in the morning, he walked into our room, lay down next to me, hugged me tight and went off to sleep... quite peaceful. :)